As public consumers, we are constantly bombarded by numbers in our
daily lives. We here reports on the news about topics like obesity
and poverty, and we assume more often than not that these numbers must
be true. But are they?
In this course, we will learn how to critically examine numbers
produced by social statistics and presented in our daily lives. We
will accomplish this goal by learning about the field of sociology,
how to produce, present, and interpret social statistics, and about
the methods used by social scientists to understand relationships in
our social world. This class will cover several areas of sociology
focusing on quantitative reasoning in the understanding and production
of social statistics.
At the end of this course, you should be able to critically evaluate
social science research in your studies and in your daily life. You
should also have the tools to come to your own accurate conclusions
about the social world you live in.